The nyckelharpa (literally “keyed harp”) is a traditional Swedish bowed instrument with a centuries-long history, depicted as early as on medieval reliefs. It is a kind of “keyed fiddle”: the player draws the bow across the melody strings and changes their pitch not with the fingers but by pressing wooden keys that touch the strings.
Besides the melody strings, the instrument has numerous sympathetic strings that vibrate freely, wrapping the sound in a rich, resonant “haze” of overtones. This gives the nyckelharpa its inimitable spacious, ringing, shimmering timbre. Having nearly vanished, the instrument underwent a powerful revival in the 20th century and is now one of the symbols of Swedish national music, and increasingly heard in European folk and even early music.
